Nick's Living Nightmare
by fourinone
Summary: Nick seems to always find trouble, or trouble always finds him. SaraNick implied. Tune in to find out what happens to Nick. Please read and review! Chapter 6 edited.
1. The shooting

Chapter 1: The Shooting

The car came to a sudden stop. Nick looked out his window to see what the matter was. He couldn't see anything, but in the distance he heard an ear-piercing scream. He quickly went back into his Tahoe and drove into the direction of the scream. After awhile, he came to a clearing. At the clearing he heard a gun shot. Quickly, he reached for his gun and looked around for the shooter. The shooter started to shoot at him. Nick ducked under his car door for protection. He quickly reached for his cell phone and dialed Grissom's number to tell him what was going on.

Grissom was sitting at his desk looking at his precious pet, his new maggot. He was remembering the day when he found that maggot laying on a cadaver at his last crime scene. Suddenly, the ringing of his phone brought him out of his thoughts. Quickly reaching for his cell phone, he answered it.

"Grissom"

"I need back up."

"Who is this?" Grissom questioned.

"Nick. I'm being shot at." Nick replied.

"Oh god, where are you?"

"I don't know. Somewhere in the desert."

"Stay on the line as long as you can. I'll have Archie track the call." Grissom ordered.

"OK" replied Nick.

Grissom quickly went over to Archie's lab and knocked on his door.

"Come in"

"Archie, I need you to track Nick's cell phone ASAP." Grissom ordered.

"Ok, what's up?" Archie questioned.

"He is being shot at and doesn't know where he is."

"Oh"

Nick was frantically trying to find where the shooter was. It was not proving to be an easy task, especially since he was told not to move his cell phone. Suddenly, he hears another gun shot. This time it hits the top of the car door he was hiding behind. He starts to feel a sharp pain in his shoulder and realizes that the bullet hit him. Taking a deep breath, Nick slowly takes off his outer layer and makes a makeshift bandage out of it. He hoped that the blood will slow down enough for Grissom to find him. He looked at his shoulder and realized that it was his gun arm. _Great now how am I supposed to defend myself. When is Grissom going to come? OW my shoulder really hurts, not that I will ever admit that to anyone._ _I need to make sure that I don't move this arm too much. Maybe if I make a makeshift sling. I can't do that until I know the shooter is dead or captured._

Nick looks around trying to find his shooter while ignoring the sharp pains coming from his entry wound. He starts listening to the foot steps while trying to figure out where they are coming from. Finally after what seems like a life time, he figures out where his shooter is. Slowly he raises his bad arm, almost screaming at the pain the movement caused, and aimed at the shooter. He fired his gun and hoped it hit his target. He heard a gasp of pain and thanked the heavens that he injured the bad guy. _I just hope he is injured enough not to shoot at me again._ He puts his gun down and hopes that Grissom will find him.

"Hey Archie, do you have any idea where Nick is yet?" Grissom hurriedly asked.

"Yea, he is in Red Rock Canyon." Archie replied.

"Ok I'll get Brass on that"

"Grissom, I already called him."

"Oh, how long ago did you call him?"

"Ten minutes ago."

Grissom hopes that Nick wasn't hurt and sits down to wait for more news. So far, the only people to know about Nick's trouble were him, Brass, and Archie. He didn't want to tell anyone else in the lab until either Nick told them at his own accord, or Nick got hurt and he had to tell them. He hoped beyond belief that it was the former of the two possibilities. So Grissom just sat their praying for Nick.

Nick was laying stock still on the ground still listening to see if the shooter was walking around. He didn't hear any footsteps but he heard breathing, labored breathing at that, but still breathing. _I must have injured him badly, but not fatally. God being shot really hurts. I hope Brass or Grissom come soon. I should probably warn them that I was shot so they bring EMT personnel. _Slowly Nick reached for his phone and started to urgently speak into it.

"Grissom…Grissom…you…there?" Nick weakly asked.

Grissom faintly heard a noise from his cell phone so he quickly reached for it.

"Grissom…Grissom…you…there?"

"Yea, Nick I'm here." Grissom answered. Panic was slowly clawing at his heart. _Why is Nick calling? Is he ok? Was he hurt?_ "What do you want?"

"I…have…been shot." Nick answered. Grissom paled at the last word.

"Where?" Grissom was so shaken up that he could only get out one word.

"Shoulder…hurts…gun hand…had to use it…to shoot bad guy…can't move it…anymore" Nick tried to reply.

"Hold in there Nick. I will tell call the local EMT personnel and tell them where you are. Brass should be there in a few minutes. We know where you are now. Try not to move too much. You could hurt yourself more." Grissom ordered. _Now what am I supposed to do? Brass is at least 20 minutes away from where Nick is and I don't know where the closest hospital is. Nicky please be ok. We need you here._

Grissom dialed Brass's number.

"Brass"

"Hey Jim, I have bad news."

"What is it?" Brass questioned.

"Nick, he's been shot." Grissom answered.

"Ok um…the I'll call the closest EMT service and tell them where he is. I think that there is a hospital about 10 minutes away from the Red Rock Canyon. Where in Red Rock Canyon did you say he was?"

"Right where it starts, at the first clearing you should find him." Grissom supplied.

"Ok. I'll call you when I get him. Tell your team to stay strong, if not for each other than for Nick. He needs us to be strong for him."

Nick tried to ignore the searing pain from his wound, by remembering that help was on its way. _Come on Brass, can't you get here any sooner? This really hurts. I really need to make sure I don't move it. If only it wasn't so dark out here, I could have made a sling for it. Come on Brass where are you?_

After several minutes, which to Nick felt like hours, the sound of sirens filled the air. He heard cars coming to a halt right near him. _Good they must see my Tahoe._

"Nick! Nick! Where are you?" Brass's voice shouted.

"Brass…I am by…my…Tahoe." Nick replied.

The sound of footsteps rushing over flooded his ears. He saw flashlights pointing in his direction. Finally the flashlight was pointed at his face.

"Nick, where are you hurt?" One of the EMTs asked.

"My…right…shoulder…I…got…shot…there…can't move it…without…searing pain…please help." Nick responded as best as he could.

"Ok Nick. I am now going to put you on to the stretcher. Do you think you can get up with out help?" The other EMT asked.

"No…I…can't…sorry." Nick replied.

"That's ok. No need to apologize. I'll help you. Grab on to my arm with your good hand. That's it. Now I want you to sit down on the stretcher. Yes just like that. Now lay down on it. Good. Now don't move that shoulder of yours unless you want it more injured than it already is. I am going to take you to the hospital in Las Vegas so that you can have that checked out."

"Nick, is there anything about this that we need to know right away?" Brass questioned hoping to understand what went on here.

"Yea…I…shot…shooter…near…front end …of Tahoe…don't know…how injured…shooter is...might be…another victim…heard scream and gunshot…before coming…here." Nick answered. The pain was starting to get unbearable and his eyes were starting to water. He clamped his eyes shut but tears still leaked through.

"It's ok Nicky. You're ok. I'll tell Grissom where you will be. Thanks for the information." Brass informed.

Nick was put into the ambulance. The sirens were blaring and all he could do was lie on the stretcher and look up at the metal ceiling. Every twist and turn jerked his body around making him moan in pain. He tried to grasp his shoulder to stop the pain but the EMT watching him stopped him from doing it. After a long ride, the ambulance finally stopped and the door opened. He was rushed into the hospital's Emergency Room. Now that it was light, he was able to see the damage done to his shoulder. The makeshift bandage he made was still there, but it was stained with his own blood. He couldn't tell how bad the wound was but with the amount of blood he realized it was very bad. He turned his head away and realized that they placed him on a bed. He was in a white room with white sheets and white walls. There were windows along the far wall so that friends and family could see what was going on. He could see the rest of his team out there. He hoped they weren't too worried for him. He looked around the room and noticed that he was surrounded by a doctor and a few nurses.

"Now Nick my name is Dr. Carson. I am going to take the bandage you made off of your injury and see what I can do with it. Its going to hurt so be warned." The Dr. warned.

Nick shut his eyes as tightly as they could go and bit his lip. He felt the Dr reach for his bandage and slowly take it off. Then the last piece of cloth was removed and his shoulder burst with the worst pain he ever thought possible. His eyes started to tear even though they were closed. After that he knew no more.

The doctor continued to look at the wound, even after Nick passed out. He reached over and got the portable x-ray machine and put it over Nick's shoulder. After the machine was turned on he quickly left the room so that he wouldn't interfere with the radiation rays. Once it was done, he went back into the room and removed the x-ray machine. He went over to the machine and pressed print. Then he went and collected the x-ray. Looking at the x-ray, he realized that Nick was going to need surgery because the bullet pierced the muscle tissue and he had torn the muscle by using it so much. It wasn't the worst case he had ever seen, but it wasn't the best case either. Walking back to where Nick was, he started to take out the bullet and repair the muscle. After a few hours, Dr Carson was finally done with Nick's surgery. He wheeled Nick's bed into the recovery room and went to talk to the other CSIs in the waiting room.

"Hi, is there a Grissom, Sara, Catherine, Greg, and Warrick here?" Dr. Carson asked. When each one of them nodded their heads he added, "Please follow me I have some information on your colleague Nick Stokes."

Eager to hear news the team leaped up from their seats and followed the Dr. He led them into an empty room and told them to sit down.

"I am Dr. Carson. I am in charge of Nick. Well I don't know how much you know about what happened, but your colleague was shot in the shoulder tonight. The bullet pierced his muscle and when he used his arm to fire his gun at the shooter, he tore his muscle farther. I repaired the damage through surgery and here is the bullet." He handed the bullet to Grissom. "He is going to be in extreme pain, even if he doesn't admit it, for the next few weeks. After a two week sick leave, one week here and one at home, you can let him work again, but promise me NO CRIME SCENES until he has full use of his arm again. At least until it is out of the bandage and sling. He is also going to need someone to change his bandages and stay with him for the first few nights after we release him from the hospital." Dr Carson looked at all of the people in the room waiting for them to nod their heads in approval. He noticed that all of their faces were deathly pale so he quickly added, "Don't worry about your friend, after a long recovery period he will be back to normal, as long as he doesn't do anything to strenuous for at least a month. He can work in the lab if he wants after one week of rest AT HOME after we release him. Got that?" Everyone nodded their heads.

"Dr. Carson, can we see him now?" Sara quietly asked.

"Well I have to move him to his private room anyway. Right now he is in the recovery room. Just remember that he is heavily drugged so he will probably be a sleep for the majority of today and tomorrow. I will move him to room 419, you can meet me their" Dr. Carson finished. He looked at the group confused because when he told them the room number all of them chuckled as if it were some kind of inside joke. "What's so funny about the number 419?"

"A 419 is what we call a breaking and entering. It's just funny that a criminalist would be put in a 419 room." Grissom informed.

Two days later Sara and Warrick were sitting in Nick's room watching him when they heard him groan.

"Finally, I think he is waking up." Sara gasped excitedly.

Warrick turned his head towards Nick to watch him. He hasn't woken up yet and it was already two days since the incident. The Dr. did warn them about this possibility but it still worried him.

"Come on Nicky you can do it. Just open your eyes. I know you can. Please Nicky we need you to wake up." Warrick pleaded.

Slowly Nick's eyes opened and then quickly shut. Warrick realized the problem, Nick's eyes were sensitive to light and it was very bright in here. Warrick dimmed the lights and urged Nick to try again. Nick once again slowly opened his eyes, this time keeping them opened. He glanced around the room and realized he had moved to a different one than he remembered. Then again he didn't remember anything after the Dr taking off his makeshift bandage. _God that was extremely painful._ He turned his head to look at his shoulder, it was tightly bandaged. He also noticed that his arm was in a blue sling. _At least now I can't move it._ Then he realized that he was not alone in his room.

"Hey. Sara. Warrick."

"Hey Nick" Sara and Warrick both stated together.

"How long have I been here?" Nick weakly asked.

"Nicky, you have already been here for 2 days. They want you to stay for the week and then have a week of rest at home. Then you can be working at the lab until you no longer have the sling." Sara gently replied.

"Why?" Nick questioned, confused.

"The bullet pierced your muscle and you farther tore it when you shot the shooter. The doctors want to make sure it starts healing properly. Also you have stitches in the wound closing it up, and Dr Carson thought that it would be easier for everyone if you stayed here until they could take the stitches out, so you wouldn't have to come back in later. The doctor told us that your shoulder would be very painful for at least the next few weeks maybe more." Warrick informed.

Nick grimaced at that information and sighed. "I guess I understand."

The rest of the week came and went in a blur. Nick mostly slept or talked to his colleagues. There always seemed to be at least one of his fellow CSIs with him at all times. Sara came by the most she was there almost every single day. On the last day of his hospital stay, Friday the 13th, Dr. Carson came into his room.

"Hey Nick, I hope you aren't superstitious. I am going to have to take a look at your shoulder now. After that it is time to remove the stitches and you can go home." Dr. Carson informed.

"Ok" Nick replied.

Dr. Carson slowly removed Nick's arm from the sling and removed the bandage. Nick winced when the last of the bandage was removed and glanced at the wound. There was a big incision line covering his whole shoulder length with stitches across it. The stitches were thick and black. They reminded Nick of spiders. After Dr. Carson had a good look at the wound, he pulled out his supplies to take out the stitches with. First he put rubbing alcohol on the wound. Then he took his scissors and cut the ends of the stitches. Lastly, he slowly pulled the ends of the stitches until they were out of Nick's skin. After it was all done, he re-bandaged Nick's shoulder and put it back in its sling.

"Well Nick, you are free to go. Just follow my directions and rest for the next full WEEK. After that you can go to the LAB to do work. NO CRIME SCENES until you no longer need the sling. Always keep your arm in the sling even during bed time. Come and see me in two weeks and I will see how you are doing. Take care Nick." Dr. Carson ordered sternly.

Nick nodded and slowly stood up. He went over to the door and realized that Sara and Grissom were waiting for him. He went over to them and followed them to their car. Once they got back to his house, Sara and Grissom walked inside with him.

"Hey Nick, Sara is going to spend the night tonight so that someone is here if you need her. Please be honest with her when you tell her something. If you say your fine and not in pain, she will know you are lying. Please do what Dr. Carson ordered. I will see you next week in the lab." Grissom informed.

After that Grissom left and it was just Nick and Sara. Nick sat down on his favorite chair, the one facing the television. It was a nice comfortable reclining chair. Sara sat down on the couch next to the chair. She picked up the remote from the table and turned the TV on.

"What do you want to watch Nick?"

"I don't know are there any movies on?"

"Let me check."

After checking several channels, Sara found a good movie, _Shawshank Redemption. _The movie reminded both of them of their daily lives fighting crime. Nick was intrigued by it for the whole time. When it ended, he started to wish that he had tivo, so that he could watch the whole thing over again. Sara looked over at Nick and realized that his bandage was bloodstained. She also noticed how he kept wincing and closing his eyes. She went over to the kitchen counter where she left his bandages and medicine, and took some fresh bandages, rubbing alcohol, and some pain killers for him. She went to the cabinet and took out a glass. She filled the glass with water for him. Walking back over to where Nick was, she handed him the pills and water. He gratefully took both. Then he noticed that she had fresh bandages and he grimaced but sighed. He slowly took his sling off. Sara reached over and slowly started to peal the blood stained bandage off of him. She tried to be as careful as possible but every once in a while he would wince in pain and she felt terrible. Once she got the entire bandage off, she set it aside. After that she slowly put some rubbing alcohol on his wound. She heard Nick take in a sharp breath once the alcohol touched his wound and realized how much that must have stung. Finally she slowly placed the end of the fresh bandage on the wound and tightly wrapped it around his shoulder so that he couldn't move it. Lastly she slowly put his arm back into the sling.

"All done Nick, now that wasn't so bad, right. It's around 11 pm so we should hit the hay. I'll let you get changed into your pajamas now. So good night, see you in the morning. I will sleep on the couch tonight so just holler at me if you need anything." Sara stated.

"Alright, good night Sara." Nick replied.

Nick slowly got up and walked over to his room. He opened his pajama draw and realized that it was going to be hard to change with only one useable arm. Grabbing a pair of long pants, he sat on the bed. He slowly took off his pants and changed into his pajama bottoms. He couldn't wear a top because of his bandage and sling. _I need to buy a tank top or sleeveless shirt so that I can wear it with my sling and bandaged shoulder. I'll ask Sara or Warrick to get one tomorrow for me._ Once he was changed he got under the covers and turned out the lights.

The rest of the week went by in the same manner. Sara stayed the whole time and the rest of his team came and went. Warrick dropped by almost every day for at least 2 hours while the rest stopped by once in a while. It was finally the day where he was aloud to go back to work. He slowly put on his tank top and a pair of slacks. Sara was waiting for him in the kitchen and she had his pills, water, and bandages out. He took the pills and water and let her change the bandage. Once that was done, they left.

Back at the Crime lab, Grissom, Catherine, Warrick, and Greg were patiently waiting for Sara and Nick to arrive. They were excited that Nick was finally able go come back to work, even if it was as a lab rat for a few weeks, at least he was coming back. About 20 minutes later, Sara and Nick arrived.

"Hey it's great to be back." Nick greeted enthusiastically.

"It's great to have you back." Grissom responded. Everyone else nodded their heads in agreement.

"So what have I missed?" Nick asked.

"Well the person who shot you is a guy named Frank Dawson. He is currently under police supervision. He was shot in the leg by you so he is receiving medical care from the police doctors. The person whom he shot before you got to the scene is his ex girlfriend. She was shot in the stomach and is currently in a comma. We don't know if she will wake up. That's all we have on your case but there was another case where a wealthy entrepreneur was robbed and killed last week. We still don't know who did it but we have a few suspects. To be honest with you, we have been focusing mostly on your case." Grissom informed.

"So does this Frank Dawson dude have a rap sheet already or was this his first crime?" Nick asked.

"He has a rap sheet. He was arrested in 1998 for violent behavior at a bar, in 1999 for violence with a weapon, and in 2000 for attempted murder. All of the charges were dropped because of insufficient evidence against him. This time however, we have caught him at the scene with his gun pointed in your direction. He is going to be locked up for good now." Grissom informed.

"Ok. Now what do you need me to do in the lab." Nick asked.


	2. The recovery

Chapter 2: Recovery

"Nick, I want you to start working with these blood samples that we found at the crime scene. We started doing it and I want you to finish finding the data and then tell me what you found." Grissom ordered. He handed Nick the swabs of blood and left.

"Welcome back to work Nick." Sara laughed

Nick went to the DNA lab and got to work. First he slowly took a swap and cut the top of the cotton off of it. He then placed the cotton tip into a little test tube filled with water. After that, he put it in the DNA machine and waited for the results to come back. 'wow this is hard with only one hand. I have to be really careful not to mess up. I have to do this really slowly. This is going to be a long day.' Nick thought while waiting for the results. He started on the next one, repeating the process until all thirty blood swabs were finished. In the end he had 10 samples of his blood, 5 samples of Frank Dawson's ex-girlfriend blood, 5 samples of Frank Dawson's blood, and 10 samples of an unknown source's blood. Puzzled about getting unknown results, he quickly wrote everything down and went to Grissom with the information.

"Hey Grissom, I need to talk to you. This is urgent." Nick stated.

"Sure thing Nick what is it." Grissom answered. 'It's only his first day back and he already has new news for me. I forgot how effient he is. Even with that bad shoulder of his.'

"I finished the DNA on the blood swabs you gave me. 10 samples were my blood, 5 samples were Dawson's ex-girlfriend blood, 5 samples were Dawson's blood, and 10 samples were unknown. Is it possible that there was another victim or shooter at the scene?" Nick informed.

"I was sure that there was only you, Dawson, and Dawson's girlfriend but I guess I was wrong. You said that there were 10 unknown samples." Grissom waited for Nick to nod before continuing. "I will get Brass to check the local hospitals to see if they had anyone come in the last 2 weeks from a gunshot wound, or heavy trauma. The other person might not have been shot, just injured somehow by either the other victim or by Dawson. I want you to put the DNA into the databases of other areas and see if you get a hit. Come back when you are done. And Nick, take it easy, if it gets to be too much, go to the break room and take a break." Grissom replied. Nick nodded knowing that it wasn't a suggestion; it was an order from his boss. "Nick I am not saying that as your boss, I'm saying that as a friend. It's your first day back and I want you to get better, so please as a friend, do what I say."

"Ok Grissom, I understand. So what databases to you want me to start with?" Nick asked.

"Start with the local areas then move out farther until you have searched it completely." Grissom suggested.

Nick went back to the DNA lab and put the Unknown DNA samples into the computer to start the search. He started the search in the local Nevada area to see if it got any hits. While the computer was searching, he looked at his shoulder. He realized that his bandage was getting bloodstained again and was going to have to be changed. He sighed, not knowing what to do, since Sara still had his bandages, and he didn't want to seem like he depended on her, especially at work. 'Well at least it doesn't hurt, much. I hope no one can notice when I do get the sharp searing pains shooting in my shoulder. Everyone is probably worried about me.' He glanced back at the screen, still no hits. His shoulder was starting to be really painful and he wished that he had his medicine with him. 'Why did I listen to her and let her carry my medicine.'

Nick left the DNA lab and went to the break room to see if Sara was there. Once he got to the break room the pain in his shoulder was almost unbearable. He quickly sat on a chair and grasped his shoulder trying to squash out the pain. He felt tears form in his eyes and tightly closed them, even though they were closed, a few tears leaked out. He winced in pain and wished he looked around before to see if anyone was in here. He listened but didn't hear anyone so he prayed that he was alone. He tried to ignore the pain but it was proving to be difficult.

Warrick and Greg were in the break room when Nick walked in. They saw him sit in the chair and grasp his shoulder. They were worried for their friend. So much as happened to Nick in his life time, starting when he was nine years old to the last few weeks. They looked at each other, both thinking the same thing, 'what do we do'. They hoped that Nick would be alright, but knew it would take a long time before he was.

Grissom was walking to the break room because he realized that Nick left the DNA lab. He was worried about Nick, even if he wouldn't tell anyone. He saw Nick close his eyes in pain and grimaced when he winced. He noticed that Nick wasn't taking any medicine for the pain and wondered why, maybe Sara knew since she took care of him for the last week. Turning way from the window he went to the fingerprint lab where Sara was.

"Sara, can I see you for a second?"

"Yea sure, what's up?" Sara replied.

"It's Nick, he is in the break room and looks to be in pain, but isn't taking any medicine for it. Do you know why?" Grissom asked.

"Yea, how can I be so dumb? I have his bandages and medicine in my bag because I changed his bandages and gave him his medicine before we left tonight, but I forgot to give his pills back. Where is he?" Sara informed worriedly. She couldn't believe that she forgot to give him his pills back. She knew that he would need them at work and knowing him, he wouldn't want to be dependent on her at work. She reached into her bag and gave Grissom the paper bags. One filled with fresh bandages and rubbing alcohol, the other filled with medicine bottles. "Give these to him. He'll know what to do. I'll be there right after I am finished scanning these fingerprints into AFIS."

Grissom went back to the break room and slowly approached Nick. He noticed that Nick's hand was still clutching his shoulder and he was biting his lip to keep from screaming. Grissom knelt in front of Nick and opened the medicine bag. He looked for the pain killers and opened the bottle taking out 2. He gently shook Nick's good shoulder and waited until his eyes opened. Once Nick opened his eyes, Grissom gave him the pain killers. Nick took them gratefully and looked around. He realized that he wasn't alone and turned red with embarrassment. 'Great, now they will think that I am weak.' Warrick and Greg were still in the break room sitting on chairs, watching TV. Nick watched Warrick get up and go over to the sink filling a glass with water. Warrick brought the glass back to Nick. Nick gratefully took it, putting the pills in his mouth and gulping the water to help swallow them. Once he knew that the pain would go away, he relaxed and sighed. He turned away from the others hoping that they didn't think that he was weak. Greg got up and joined Warrick and Grissom at Nick's side. The three of them sadly looked at Nick and realized that he was embarrassed at showing pain at work. They knew that he needed to know that he is not weak so they started to quietly reassure him, with out being too obvious that they could tell what he was thinking.

"Nick, just relax, you're recovering from a gunshot and surgery. It is your first day back and just take it slow. Taking it slow does NOT imply that you are in any way weak; it implies that you are trying to back to normal that you are strong, not wanting to give up." Grissom stated trying to reassure Nick.

"Yea, Nick, we just want you to get better. We do not think that you are weak. If you were weak, you would not have survived the shooting. Just promise me as a friend, as a brother, that you will not hide anything from us anymore." Warrick stated. He hoped that Nick believed what he said was true, because he meant every word of it.

"Nick if any one of us thought that you were weak, we would be lying to ourselves. You are one of the strongest people I know. You faced so many terrible things in the past few years as a CSI but you never once stopped, you always bounced back, even if it took a while. I just hope you believe that because I know everyone here does, even if they don't show or mention it." Greg stated honestly. "Nick, if I were in you shoes and went through everything you did, I would have stopped being a CSI and go home, never leaving the house again."

Nick looked at Grissom, Warrick, and Greg and realized that they were honest, that they meant every single word they said. He was touched that they felt so strongly about him and wanted to prove to them that he was as strong as they said he was. He nodded, hoping they realize that he agrees to what they say. He looks at their faces again and realizes that they look really relieved. His shoulder was starting to feel much better, but he still needed to change his bandage. He noticed that Grissom had the bandage bag with him and took it from him. Setting the bag on his lap, he started to slowly take his arm out of the sling. He winced at the pain that small movement caused, but continued doing it. Then he started un-wrapping his old bandage until the last piece of cloth was removed from his wound. He heard the others gasp when they saw the wound, but ignored them. He took the Rubbing alcohol out of the bag and tried to put it on his wound, but his hand was shaking too much, so he spilt a tiny bit on his lap. Once he was able to get some on his wound, biting his lip against the pain, he took the fresh bandages out of the bag and started to wrap them around his shoulder. Only being able to use his left hand, Nick couldn't wrap the bandage as tightly as it needed to be so he sighed and closed his eyes again. He heard the door open and close, and quick foot steps coming his way. He recognized them as Sara's.

Sara walked into the break room and looked at Nick. She realized that he tried to change his bandages by himself, but gave up and waited until she came. She quickly walked up to him and gently touched is arm. He opened his eyes and looked at her. She helped him up and he let her guide him to the sink. She watched his wound and felt bad when she saw his wince. After the wound was clean, she took the bandages from him and slowly, but as tightly as she could, re wrapped his shoulder. Finally, she guided his arm through the sling as carefully as possible. She glanced over at the other three grateful that they gave them some space. She patted Nick on the back and told him that it was over; he never kept his eyes open while she changed his bandages.

Nick opened his eyes and was grateful that no one said anything about him letting Sara change his bandage. He walked back over to the chair and sat down, sighing.

"Thanks you guys, just give me a sec and I'll be fine." Nick stated, thankful for their support. "Or as fine as I can be with a gunshot wound" Nick quickly added after hearing the others trying to contradict him.

Grissom, Warrick, and Greg quietly left the room and went back to work. Sara left after glancing at Nick to make sure he wasn't in pain. After a few minutes, Nick got up and went back to work.

When he got back to the DNA lab, he looked at the screen. No matches. So he started another search in the neighboring states. After that was started, he sat in the chair and waited. About an hour later, he got a hit on the database. He looked at the name, Nigel Crane, and gasped in shock. The stalker was back again and after him. He printed out the hit and checked it against the rest of the unknown DNA samples; they all came back to Nigel Crane. He got up and went to Grissom's office.

"Grissom, I got a hit." Nick stated.

"Who is it?" Grissom questioned.

"It's…um…Nigel Crane." Nick stated, his voice shaking.

Grissom gasped and turned around to face Nick. He took the paper from Nick and glanced at it. Yep it was the same Nigel Crane, the Stalker, the one after Nick. He glanced back at Nick and got more worried about him.

"Nick, I want you off of this case, I'll have Brass try and locate Nigel. I want you to stay as far away from this case as possible so you are going to be working on the other case with Warrick. The victims name was Max Everest." Grissom ordered.

Nick left Grissom's office and went around the lab to find Warrick. He was in the ballistics lab. Warrick looked up and was surprised when Nick walked in.

"Hey Warrick, Grissom moved me to your case." Nick informed.

"Ok Nick, so the Max Everest was shot three times once in the chest, once in the back of the head, and once in the thigh. The one in the head was not a through and through, suggesting that the bullet was a 22 caliber. The other two shots were through and through. The bullets were recovered at the scene and morgue. I am comparing the bullet striations to the guns in his gun safe. So far no matches, so you can do a search for registered 22 caliber guns and see if you get a match. I'll continue test firing the rest of the guns in his safe. Tell me if you get any thing." Warrick informed.

Nick started his search and waited. 'This is going to be a boring next few weeks if all they let me do is search on the computer.' When he heard Warrick pull the trigger of one of the guns he flinched remembering the last time he heard gun fire. He looked back at the screen trying to ignore the sound of gunshots coming from where Warrick was testing the guns. Finally the search stopped and he got a match. The gun was registered to Frank Darwin. The two cases have the same suspect. He gasped and called for Warrick.

"Warrick, you should see this"

"What Nick?"

"I got a match for the gun. It is registered to Frank Darwin. What I don't get though is, wasn't Darwin in custody when Max Everest was killed?" Nick informed.

"Nick, I don't get it. Isn't Frank Darwin the guy that shot you?"

"Yea"

"Let's go get Grissom and tell him that the cases might be linked." Warrick stated.

They headed towards Grissom's office and told him what they found out. They then went to the break room for a rest. Nick went over to the chair he was in before and noticed that the brown bags were still there. He placed them on the table next to him and sat on the chair.

An hour later, Nick and Sara headed back to Nick's house. Nick's shoulder was getting painful again and he started to wince. Once they got back to Nick's home, Sara changed his bandages and he took his medicine.

The next few weeks went by in a similar manner. Until it was finally the day where Nick had his appointment with Dr. Carson to see how his shoulder was healing. It was still rather painful at times but Nick hoped he could take off the bandage. It stung every time he had to change it and he could live with out the extra pain. When he arrived at the hospital, he waited until Dr. Carson was ready to see him.

"Nick Stokes, Dr. Carson is ready for you." A nurse called out.

Nick got up and walked to Dr. Carson's office. He sat down and waited to see what the doctor would say.

"Good morning Nick, I hope you are feeling better. Well let's see what your shoulder looks like. I'm going to un-wrap your shoulder and take it out of the sling. Then I want to see if you can move it with out too much pain. When you move it, stop if you start to feel sharp pains ok." Dr. Carson informed Nick.

Dr. Carson took off Nick's bandage and took Nick's sling off. He put the bandage in the garbage and the sling on his desk. Then he told Nick to start SLOWLY moving his arm around. He watched as Nick slowly raised his arm about half way up before wincing in pain. He told Nick to stop. After a little rest he told Nick to move his arm to the side. He watched has Nick slowly moved his arm to the side with out wincing, but when he tried to move it back and forth, he winced. Once Nick slowly brought his arm back to his chest, Dr. Carson told him how his shoulder was.

"Well Nick your shoulder is healing nicely so I don't think you need the bandage anymore, but since it hurt to move it, I still want you to use your sling. I think that you are ready for crime scenes as long as you are not alone at any time and you are careful. I would like to check your progress in two weeks. So when you have time keep practicing the movements I showed you earlier, moving your arm until you feel pain, not any farther ok. If you do it twice a day, everyday, until I see you again, you should be off the sling in two weeks. See you then Nick." Dr. Carson ordered.

Nick walked back to the waiting room and noticed that Sara was there. He told her the news and they headed to work. Since he moved his shoulder for the first time since it was injured, he was in terrible pain. He dug into his pocket and took out his pain killers. Popping two in his mouth he closed his eyes and relaxed.

When they arrived at the lab, Nick told Grissom what Dr. Carson said.

"That's really good news Nick. Let's see, um, you can go to the new crime scene with Warrick and Greg." Grissom stated.


	3. The Crime Scene

Chapter 3: The Crime Scene

Nick, Warrick, and Greg headed to the crime scene and got out of the Tahoe. They went under the yellow crime scene tape and into the scene. Nick walked over to the body, and noticed that it looked familiar. As he stepped closer and closer he realized that it was Nigel Crane. He beckoned the others over and they gasped.

"Do you think he is really dead?" Nick whispered to Warrick.

"I hope so. The first responding cops should have made sure, but I want you to stay away from him, just incase it is a trap." Warrick stated just as quietly.

Nick walked away from the body of his stalker and started looking around for evidence. He noticed the same kind of red droplets on the ground and followed them, just as he did the first time he met Nigel Crane. He took out a swab and took a sample of the substance for trace. He stole a glance at the body making sure that he was really dead, but the body was gone. Surprised, Nick stood up and looked around. The M.E wasn't there yet so he was getting kind of nervous that Nigel Crane probably wasn't dead. He slowly walked over to where Warrick and Greg were and told them that Nigel Crane's body was no longer there.

"Oh my god, Nick we have to get you out of here. Grissom would never forgive us if you got more injured. Heck, I would never forgive myself. I'll call Grissom and tell him it was a trap, you go into the Tahoe and stay safe." Warrick ordered.

"No, I'm not leaving you here either we all go to the Tahoe, or I stay out here with you and Greg." Nick countered.

"Fine, get your gun out and let's quietly get back to the car." Warrick stated.

The three of them took their guns out and headed towards the car. Nick felt a bit awkward holding his gun in his left hand, but continued on. They heard footsteps behind them and quickly turning around, coming face to face with the supposed dead Nigel Crane.

"Nicky we meet again. Now you two, Nicky's friends, please leave us alone. Nicky and I have some business to finish." Nigel Crane ordered.

Warrick and Greg slowly backed off. Warrick quickly called Brass and told him they needed back up. Keeping an eye on Nick and Nigel, he waited for the back up to come. He hoped that Nick was going to be fine. Keeping his gun trained on Nigel Crane, he prayed for Nick's safety. The last thing Nick needed was another injury. He watched as Nigel took Nick's gun and trained it on him. Warrick continued to watch while Nigel started to take off Nick's sling, making his injured arm hang loose. He heard Nick gasp in pain and hoped he was ok. Finally after what seemed like hours, Warrick heard sirens in the distance. He saw Brass get out of one of the police cars and head towards them, with his gun out.

"Warrick, Greg you guys ok?" Brass quickly and quietly asked.

"Yea, Nigel pushed us aside. He just wanted Nick. They're over there. Please help Nick. Last thing he needs is to get more injured." Warrick informed. Greg nodded, too shaken up to speak.

Brass quickly but stealthy went over to where Nigel was holding Nick. He hid in the bushes to assess what he should do while watching with fright when he saw Nigel pull Nick's own gun on him. Nick started to shake with fear, and Brass knew he had to intervene now. He motioned to the other cops and started closing in on Nigel and Nick. With his gun drawn, and trained at Nigel, Brass quickly moved over to Nick. He saw the other cops putting a struggling Nigel Crane in handcuffs. Quickly he turned to Nick, whom was still shaking, and told him he was safe now.

"Hey Nicky, it is over. You're safe now. Come on let's go over to the cars. I need to see if you're ok. Here give me your hand." Brass stopped waiting for Nick to grab his hand. "That's it Nicky. Come on; let's get back to the cars."

Brass carefully guided Nick to the cars, while noticing that he no longer had his sling. Hoping Nick didn't get more injured; he continued to walk to the cars. Once at the cars, he left Nick with Warrick and Greg and went to look for Nick's sling.

Warrick and Greg looked at Nick and felt horrible. Why didn't they do anything to intervene before it got so bad? Why did they just look on, letting Nigel control Nick like that? They felt so guilty, certain that Nick would blame them. Quietly they both went over to Nick and started reassuring him that he was safe. When Brass returned, Warrick and Greg were still trying to comfort Nick. Brass quietly handed Warrick the sling, and got in his car to call Grissom. Warrick gave the sling to Nick, who carefully put it back on. They got back into the Tahoe and headed to the lab.

Once they were back at the lab, they saw Grissom waiting for them. He looked worried. Greg got out of the car and went to Grissom, while Warrick stayed in the car comforting Nick.

"Are you guys alright?" Grissom worriedly asked.

"Yea, well except that we are shaken up. He was only interested in Nick so he pushed me and Warrick aside. He took Nick aside and took Nick's gun from him. He pointed the gun at Nick while making him kneel on the ground and took his sling off." Greg informed Grissom.

"Let's go to the break room, that way you guys can rest, and help Nick. Do you think I should call Dr. Carson?" Grissom replied.

"Well he did gasp in pain a few times, but I don't know if he got more injured or not. It's your choice. What do you think he needs the most?" Greg suggested.

"I'll call the Dr. Meet me in the break room and try to get Nick to relax." Grissom informed.

Greg went back to the car and helped Warrick guide Nick inside. Once inside they headed to the break room and laid Nick down on the couch. Greg realized that the only person able to calm Nick down is Sara, so he quietly left the room to go and find her. Once he found her he told her what happened.

"Hey Sara, you need to come to the break room."

"What's up?" Sara asked.

"It's Nick, he is shaken up because Nigel tried to control him again. You are the only person he gets calm with. Please help him." Greg informed.

Sara quickly left and went to the break room. She walked in and noticed Nick on the couch. He was shaking like a leaf and as pale as a sheet. She quickly went over to him and started to rub his head, running her fingers through his hair. At first he flinched and tensed at the touch, but when he recognized it he sighed in contentment. She continued doing it until she heard the door open and saw Grissom with Dr. Carson. She got up and let Dr. Carson examine Nick. Dr. Carson looked at Nick and started to examine him. He carefully took the sling off, and looked at the shoulder. The cut had opened up a tiny bit again, but he wouldn't need the bandage still, other than that he couldn't see anything wrong. He lightly touched Nick's shoulder, only to have Nick moan in pain. He lightly tapped Nick's arm and waited for him to wake up.

"Hi Nick I was wondering if you could tell me when it hurts ok." Dr. Carson stated. Nick nodded. "In order for me to get a good examination of your shoulder you have to be totally relaxed. Can you do that for me?" Once again Nick nodded and started to relax.

Dr. Carson started the examination when he was sure that Nick was completely relaxed. He slowly moved Nick's arm, in every direction, stopping as soon as he saw Nick wince, even the tiniest bit. Then he lightly touched parts of Nick's shoulder to see if touch would bother him. As soon as Nick felt the hand on his shoulder, he winced from the pain it caused. By the end of Dr. Carson's examination, Nick passed out because of the pain. Dr. Carson sighed but turned to the others to tell them what he thought.

"Nick's shoulder is about how it was when I saw him for his appointment today, the only thing that caused him more pain now than it did before, was the touching of the wound. So his shoulder is going to be sore and very tender for the next few days. Let him rest, but still let him work because it shouldn't hinder him too much. If he starts to feel pain, tell him to take a break. He can do the crime scenes as long as they have already been cleared and secured. Make sure he is never alone even at home because you don't know when the pain spells will hit him, but when they do, it will be almost unbearable pain. So please look out for him and make sure that even when he is in pain, that he never touches his shoulder, it would just cause him more pain. Let him wake up on his own right now, he needs his rest." With that said, Dr. Carson left.

Sara, Warrick, Grissom, and Greg all looked at Nick with pity. They couldn't believe what had happened to him and knew it wasn't over yet, even if they assured him it was. It was a slow night at the lab so they all sat in the break room and waited for Nick to wake up. Knowing that Nick would be in pain when he wakes up, Sara got up and filled a glass of water for him so he could shallow his pills. A few hours later, Nick finally woke up. Sara handed him the pills and water and he gratefully took them. He looked around and noticed that most of the team was in the break room with him. He could feel his face burning up and knew that he was turning bright red. He put his head down in shame.

"I'm sorry. It's all my fault." Nick mumbled, looking down not daring to meet anyone's eyes. He was afraid that they would blame him for what has happened today.

"Nick, look at me." Grissom started, waiting for Nick to look up. "I don't want to hear you say that ever again. You are in no way responsible for what went on today. IT WAS NOT YOUR FAULT! Now please Nick, believe what I just said because all I want…all we want…is for you to get better and back to your normal self. You have nothing to be sorry for, if any one should be sorry, it's us because we are sorry that this has happened to you. You don't deserve to have such terrible things happening to you."

"But…" Nick started.

"No buts Nick. Listen to Grissom he is telling the honest to god truth. If I EVER hear you say sorry for something that WASN'T YOUR FAULT I would be angry at you. Please Nick, believe us." Sara interrupted.

"If I didn't go to the crime scene, Warrick and Greg wouldn't have had to listen and see what Nigel was capable of. Nigel would have left and they wouldn't be so shaken up. I'm sorry you guys had to see that. I wish that you…" Nick tried to explain his reasoning but was interrupted.

"Nick stop right there! Please Nick, listen to me. I DO NOT BLAME YOU! If you weren't there Nigel would have chosen one of us" Greg started pointing to him and Warrick, "and we would be in your position. If you went alone Nigel would have hurt you a lot worse, and we would have no idea. Nick, Nigel could have killed you. He had your own gun pointed at your head! If Warrick didn't call Brass, Nigel could have shot you before we would have been able to tackle him. Once again, I DO NOT BLAME YOU! IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT!" Greg honestly stated.

"Yea Nick, if you don't listen to the others, at least listen to me. I was there, and I DO NOT BLAME YOU! I wish that I was the one whom Nigel was after, not you. I would do anything to make sure that you get better. I am the guilty one here because I just stood there in horror letting Nigel command you like that and hurt you. I could have intervened and I didn't. I regret not intervening and letting you get so hurt. Can't you see that it is my fault?" Warrick stated hoping Nick would rebut him and fall into the trap of saying the truth.

"I don't blame you in the slightest Warrick. If you tried to intervene, he would have hurt you too. It wasn't your fault that Nigel likes to be so controlling." Nick rebutted not knowing that he said exactly what they were trying to get across to him.

"Oh is that so Nick. I just have one question for you. If you don't blame me for not intervening, why should I blame you for just being there?" Warrick slyly stated, a tiny smile forming on his face. He saw Nick get the point and start to blush.

"Nick I want you to take as much of a break as you need and then you can come go with Greg and Warrick and work on any evidence that you might have. Sara, I want you to make sure he listens to what we tell him. Nick, if you need anything, and I mean anything, just come and find me, no matter what you need, even if you just want to talk or be with some one I will always listen. I'm sure that goes for everyone in this room." Grissom stated, and everyone else besides Nick vigorously nodded their heads in agreement. "I know you are probably sick of hearing this, but please believe when we say that IT WAS NOT YOUR FAULT!" With that said; Grissom patted Nick on the back and left the break room.

Nick looked at himself for the first time since the incident earlier. He realized that his shoulder had a tiny bit of blood on it and was thankful that he didn't need the bandage any more. He tried to get up from the couch in order to get a rag to clean his shoulder, but Sara stopped him by putting a hand on his uninjured shoulder and gently pushing him back down. He relented and watched Warrick get him a rag and some water for his shoulder. He gratefully reached out for it but Warrick passed it to Sara instead. Nick looked at Warrick thinking 'am I really that weak that I can't even clean my own shoulder. What do they think I am, a baby?' Sara saw Nick's expression and knew what he was thinking. She sighed and put the water and rags down, and knelt in front of him, holding his hand.

"Nick look at me. We just want you to be able to rest right now. It's about time you've had someone to take care of you. Please don't push us away. We are only trying to help you." Sara stated. She heard Nick sigh and close his eyes. Seeing that as agreement, she got the rag and water again.

Once she put the rag in the water and wrung it out, she started to clean his shoulder. Remembering what the doctor said, she did it as carefully and gently as she could. The second she started to clean his shoulder, Nick bit his lip to suppress the scream of pain that was about to come out. He didn't want the others to know how much pain he was in. He tightly shut his eyes and dug his fingers into the fabric of the couch. Sara looked at Nick and started to feel really bad for him. She was trying not to hurt him, but it looked like he was in agony. She couldn't understand why he didn't want the others to know how much he was actually hurt. She started to cry when she heard Nick scream in pain. When she finished, she put the rag and water back, and went over to Nick. She rubbed his head, until he calmed down.

"Nick I am so sorry for doing that to you. I tried to be as careful as possible but your shoulder is really tender right now and will be for a few days. Please forgive me." Sara pleaded.

"Sara…I never…could…blame you…just give me…a sec…and I'll…be fine." Nick weakly replied. He reached over to the brown bag that had his medicine, and took 2 painkillers.

After several minutes, the pain faded until it was just a dull ache. Nick slowly sat up and took a deep breath. 'Well that was a painful experience. I never want to go through that again.' He stood up and walked towards the door. Warrick, Greg, and Sara all looked at each other and followed him out. Warrick and Greg waited until they were alone and looked at each other. They both knew that Sara felt terrible for how much pain she just caused Nick, and they didn't know how to reassure her that there was nothing that she could have done to prevent it. They left the break room and went to find where Nick went. They found him in the trace lab looking in a Microscope.

"Hey Nick, what are you looking at?" Greg asked. Since he started his career as a lab rat, he knew he could help Nick out."

"I found this red substance at the crime scene and took a swab of it right before I noticed that Nigel wasn't dead. I am trying to see if there is anything special about this substance. I am pretty sure that it is the hair dye that we found the first time we met Nigel." Nick informed.

A few hours later, the shift was finally over, and everyone headed home. Nick and Sara headed towards Nick's home. When they got there, Nick had another pain attack. He grimaced and tried to find his medicine but, he left it at the lab. The pain was getting unbearable and he moaned in agony. Sara looked at him and sighed. She noticed that he left the bag in the break room and picked it up for him. Getting it out of her purse, Sara handed Nick his painkillers. Once he was not in as much pain, they said good night to each other, and went to bed.


	4. The discovery

Chapter 4: The Discovery

The few days went by quickly. Nick started to feel better each day and was back to how he was before Nigel in no time. He started his exercises up again, doing them twice a day like Dr. Carson told him to do, once when he first woke up and once when he was getting ready to go to bed. He was starting to believe what everyone was telling him, that it wasn't his fault, and started to be more open with them. Nick started to get ready for work.

Once he was at work, he went to the break room to see what Grissom would tell him to do. He looked around the break room, and noticed that Grissom was not there at the moment. He must be early for once. He sat down on the couch and waited for Grissom to show up. While waiting he remembered that he forgot to do his exercises today, so he did them. He took off his sling, and started to move his shoulder in all directions, until he felt pain. He was concentrating so hard on his exercises, that he didn't hear the door open, and see Grissom walk in.

Grissom was running late, and quickly walked to the break room. Once he got there, he noticed that Nick was taking off is sling. Grissom wondered why Nick would do that, and quietly watched him. Grissom noticed that Nick started moving his shoulder in all directions and realized that Nick must be doing physical therapy exercises. Quietly, he walked in and sat on one of the chairs waiting for Nick to finish.

Once Nick finished he looked up and noticed that he was not alone any more. He saw Grissom sitting on a chair and wondered how long Grissom was there. Putting his sling back on, Nick waited for Grissom to speak.

"Hey Nick, today I want you to start out working with Sara on the new case she has. She is in the fingerprinting lab. Just remember to take it easy, alright. I'll be in my office if you need me." Grissom informed Nick.

Nick left the break room and headed towards the fingerprint lab. He wished that Grissom didn't pair him up with Sara because Nick knew that Sara would be able to tell when and if he lied. He entered the fingerprint lab and went over to Sara.

"Hey Sara, Grissom told me to work with you on your new case. He didn't tell me anything about the new case, so could you inform me what it is about?" Nick informed. Sara looked at him and realized that he was just trying to get her thoughts away from the fact that he was injured. Sighing she answered him.

"The case is about a murder that happened in one of the casinos at the strip. The victim was shot three times, once in the head, once in the chest, and once in the thigh. The shot in the head was not a through and through, the other two were. It seems to be the same M.O as the murder of Mr. Everest. I have collected the bullets from the crime scene and morgue. Let's compare them to the bullets found at the Everest murder. We may have a serial killer on our hands. I want you to start comparing the striations of each bullet to the others. Tell me when you are finished." Sara informed. She saw Nick start to rub his shoulder in pain, but didn't say anything, waiting for him to be honest about it.

Nick felt a throb of pain in his shoulder, so he started to rub it, forgetting that Sara was watching him. He sighed, and collected the bullets and went over to the microscope to compare them. It was hard to do with only one hand, but he didn't complain. Working slower then he would have if he had both hands to work with, he carefully started to compare them. After around, a half of an hour, Nick was finally done comparing the bullets. He found that each bullet was an exact match to the next, except for one. There was one lone bullet that did not match the others at all. He wrote down his findings and shared them with Sara. Once he was finished explaining to Sara, he went to find Grissom.

"Grissom, I need to talk to you."

"What is it Nick?" Grissom questioned.

"Well, Sara had me compare the bullets from her scene, to the ones found at the scene where Mr. Everest was shot. I looked at each bullet carefully and matched all but one. There is one bullet, from today's scene, that doesn't match any of the other ones. So I think that we have a second shooter. Could you have Brass look at Dawson's file to see if he has any partners?" Nick informed.

"Sure thing Nick, I'll tell Brass. Why don't you go back to the lab and run a search on the lone bullet to see if you can find the gun?" Grissom replied.

Nick left and went back to Sara. He noticed that as soon as he came back, she left. Nick started the search and relaxed in the chair. His shoulder was acting up again, so he started to massage it, trying to work out the knots and relieve the pain.

Sara went to find Grissom. She was very annoyed at Nick for not saying anything about being in pain. When she found Grissom, she waved him over.

"Grissom, I need to talk to you."

"What is it Sara?" Grissom questioned.

"It's about Nick." Sara replied.

"What now?"

"He thinks that he has to hide his pain all the time. When he was in the lab with me, I saw him wincing and rubbing his shoulder in pain. I kept quiet to see if he would tell me about it, but he never did. GOD DAMN IT! Can't he see that we just want him to be better, and we are not going to be upset with him if he shows his pain? Why does he have to be so difficult?" Sara ranted.

"Sara calm down, now let's head over to the lab and see what he's up to. If he looks to be in pain, I'll handle it ok. The last thing he needs right now is for you to be frustrated at him." Grissom reasoned.

They headed over to the lab where Nick was, and went in it. They saw him sitting on the chair rubbing his shoulder with is eyes closed. Tapping him on his other shoulder, Grissom tried to get his attention. When Nick opened his eyes, Grissom looked sternly at him.

"Nick, what did I tell you about hiding your pain from others?"

"Not to do it and you will be mad at me if I do." Nick answered in shame.

"Well what are you doing right now?"

"Hidingmypain." Nick quickly answered in one breath.

"What was that?"

"I'm hiding my pain."

"Why didn't you tell Sara you were in pain?"

"I didn't want to be a burden. I didn't want to seem weak."

"NICK, YOU ARE NOT A BURDEN AND YOU ARE NOT WEAK. YOU WERE SHOT AND ARE RECOVERING FROM THAT. IT TAKES TIME TO RECOVER. Please Nick remember that, you are one of the strongest people I know." Grissom stated loudly. "Now next time tell us when you're in pain, and we will understand that you need a break. Go to the break room and take your pain killers. While you're doing that, think about how you would feel if you were in our position, watching your friend hide their pain from you. You don't need to suffer alone." Grissom watched Nick get up and leave. Once Nick was out of hearing range, Grissom sighed.

Once Nick came back, Grissom had left. Sara was still there working on the fingerprints found at the scene. Nick quickly went over to Sara with his head low, and told her that he was sorry for not being honest with her. He went over to the computer and glanced at it. He noticed that there was a match. The bullet came from a gun registered to Nigel Crane. Nick gasped. He printed the sheet out and showed it to Sara. He noticed that he had started to shake. 'How could all of the cases be related? Were they all trying to get him? Was he safe?'

Sara read the sheet and felt faint. She looked at Nick and saw how badly he was shaking. Walking over to him, she gently started to massage his back, trying to calm him down. She knew that Grissom needed to see this, and could tell that Nick needed a break. Heading towards the break room, slowly guiding Nick, she looked around trying to find Grissom. Gently helping Nick sit down, she went to get him a glass of water. Coming back, she gave him the glass of water, and sat down next to him rubbing his hair to try and calm him. Sara heard the door open and looked up, it was Warrick. She waved him over, and showed him the sheet.

"Here, this is what Nick found on his search."

"Oh my god, how did Nigel Crane's gun get used in a murder, if Nigel is being held in the police office right now." Warrick exclaimed. "We need to tell Grissom and Brass. What if Nigel escaped? He could hurt Nick again."

"I know, can you keep an eye on Nick while I fill Grissom and Brass in?" Sara asked. She left once Warrick nodded.

Sara looked around the lab trying to find Grissom. Once she found him, she explained what Nick saw during his search. Grissom gasped and quickly called Brass in order to make sure that Nigel was still in custody.

"Hey Brass I need to talk to you."

"Yea what is it?"

"Nick found who owned the other gun in our murder case. It is registered to Nigel Crane. The thing is the murder happened today, when Nigel was in your custody."

"Oh no that's not good, there has to be a mistake. Let me go and make sure that Nigel is still here. I'll be right back, hold on…Grissom we have a problem."

"What happened?"

"The guard keeping watch on Nigel was killed, Nigel escaped. He's on the loose. I will get dispatch to search for him, but most likely he'll head your way, wanting to finish what he was doing to Nick. Nick is in danger now, don't let him out of your sight. Call me as soon as you hear anything ok." Brass informed.

Grissom told Sara the news and she fainted. Grissom sighed and picked her up, carrying her to the break room. He laid her down on the couch and looked at Warrick and Nick. He told them the news and Nick started shaking again. Warrick started muttering under his breath angrily. Grissom looked at Nick and sighed.

"Nick, you are going to have to be incredibly careful until Nigel is caught again. He may still be after you. I want you to stay in the lab until he is caught. What ever you do, don't go any where by yourself. That way, if Nigel finds you, you will not be alone and he will be easily captured. Promise me you will listen." Grissom ordered.

Nick sighed but nodded. He knew that he was the safest here, but he thought that if Nigel could get in Nick's attic, he could easily get in to the lab.

A few hours later, Nick was still in the break room. He was talking to Catherine Willows. Suddenly the lights went off, and the room was pitch black. Knowing that something bad was going to happen, he started to panic. He heard creaking footsteps on the floor above, and followed them. He noticed that Catherine had her gun out, so he took his out. The footsteps stopped and so did Nick. He heard a crash and looked around. The ceiling had collapsed right next to him. Nick heard another crash and realized that Nigel was here.

"Nick, I see we meet again. Now let's do it differently than last time. I want you and your friend, to come here." Nigel started waiting for Nick and Catherine to follow his command. "Good, now kneel on the ground with your backs to each other. That's it."

Nick and Catherine quickly followed what Nigel said. They noticed that he could not tell that they had their weapons out. They felt him tie rope around their wrists, binding them together tightly. Nick heard Catherine wince in pain, and couldn't stand seeing her hurt.

"Let her go! It's me you want!" Nick screamed. Nigel laughed and kicked Nick in the gut. Nick gasped in pain.

"Ha that serves you right for talking back to me. Now you only made me madder at you. I didn't want you to get hurt, but now you left me no choice. Say good bye to life Nick!" Nigel laughed.

Nick heard a gun being pulled out and screamed bloody murder trying to get some ones attention. He heard Nigel cock the gun and before Nigel could pull the trigger, Nick was stood up and kicked the gun out of Nigel's hand. Nigel screamed and raged at Nick. He pushed Nick hard and Nick fell on to the rubble. Gasping Nick got back tried to get back up, but with his hands tied he couldn't. Nigel laughed and advanced onto Nick again.

Catherine couldn't take in anymore and screamed. She screamed as loudly as she could, trying to get some one to come. All she managed to do was to get Nigel advancing on her instead. Nigel slapped her and grabbed her by the neck. She started to kick out at Nigel hoping to hit him. She heard a gasp of pain and she dropped to the ground.

"Now look what you made me do! You are almost as bad as he is. You made me hurt you. This is all your fault. Now I'm going to have to hurt him." Nigel stated. Catherine started to protest, only earning a slap from Nigel because of it. "Now, now none of that missy."

Nigel went over to Nick and kicked him again, this time aiming the kick at Nick's shoulder. He heard Nick scream and laughed at him. He was so focused on hurting Nick that he never realized that Catherine quickly slipped one hand out of the bindings, and got her cell phone, calling for help. Catherine had her hand back in the bindings before Nigel noticed anything was wrong.

Catherine was proud of her self, she was able to call for help with out Nigel noticing. She saw him kick Nick again and screamed as loudly as she could. Nigel turned and advanced on her. Nigel noticed a gun beside her, and picked it up. He aimed it at her and was about to press the trigger when he heard Nick stand up behind him. Turning around quickly, Nigel aimed the gun at Nick and fired. Nick heard the bullet come towards him and ducked. Nigel fired again and again and Nick kept dodging the bullets, but one grazed him, barely hitting him in the ankle. He gasped but stayed standing up. He heard another gun shot and quickly dove to the ground. Nick gasped in pain and stood back up. He saw Catherine huddled in the corner, and heard her crying. Keeping his eyes trained on Nigel, Nick slowly walked over to her. He got there and sat down next to her. Nigel followed him and was picking up another gun, when the door burst open and someone shot a gun at him. Nigel gasped in pain and collapsed to the floor dead.

Brass arrived to the lab as quickly as he could after hearing Catherine on the phone. He was worried. He ran into the lab and heard gunshots. He hoped he wasn't too late and that they were still ok. Ran towards where the sound was coming from and burst through the door. He saw Nigel advancing on Nick and Catherine, picking up another gun. Quickly, Brass fired his gun at Nigel and heard his gasp of pain. Brass turned on the light and noticed that he had killed Nigel. 'At least now Nick will be safe.' He quickly went over to where Nick and Catherine were and called an ambulance. He had to make sure they were ok. Kneeling down next to them, he realized that their hands were bound together behind their backs. After he freed them, he told them that Nigel was dead and that they were now safe from him forever. He comforted them until the ambulance arrive. Once they were safely in the ambulance, he called Grissom and told him what happened and what he knew about it.


	5. Back to the hospital

Chapter 5: Back to the hospital

By the time they arrived at the hospital, Nick and Catherine were shaking so badly that the paramedics rushed them to the trauma room. Once there the doctors started to examine them. First the doctors and nurses had to get Nick and Catherine to calm down so that they wouldn't hurt themselves more. Then once they were calm, the doctors started to examine them.

Nick was all dirty and bloody, so the nurses got rags and some water and started to clean his skin. Once he was cleaner, the doctors could see that he was very bruised. He also had a lot of cuts, especially around his legs, arms, and face. The nurses cleaned the cuts, while the doctors continued to examine them. They noticed that his ankle was still bleeding, so they farther examined it. They saw that he was shot in the ankle, the bullet was just barely in his ankle, it was hanging on by a piece of skin. The doctors carefully took the bullet out of his ankle. Once the bullet was out, they were able to tell that he had also sprained his ankle badly. They continued to examine him and realized that a few of his ribs were bruised and cracked. Moving to his upper body, they realized that his right shoulder was already in a sling from a previous injury. They carefully took the sling off so that they could examine the shoulder better. There was a big bruise on it in the shape of a boot, where he got kicked. Other than that, the shoulder looked to be healing from a previous injury. Not knowing whether he was more hurt or not, they continued on their examination. His wrists were badly cut from the ropes that had bound them together. Lastly, they examined his head. He had a concussion but they wouldn't know how severe until he woke up and under went a proper test. Finished with the examination, the doctor bandaged his ankle and wrapped it with an ace bandage for extra support. Then the doctor wrapped his ribs so they could heal faster, and put bandages on the cuts on Nick's wrists. Lastly he put Nick's sling back on.

Catherine was also really dirty but she wasn't that bloody. The nurses cleaned her up and the doctor started his examination. Her face and neck were really bruised. Her neck was severally bruised, the bruise forming a hand print, suggesting that she was strangled. Her wrists were more cut than Nick's were suggesting struggle, but other than that, she was fine. He bandaged her wrists and farther examined her windpipe. It was bruised, she was lucky it wasn't damaged.

Finished with both of their examinations, he moved them to their floor room, room 231. Once he got them there, he went to find the rest of the CSI's knowing that they would want the bullet from Nick's ankle and news on how they were doing. Reaching the waiting room, he called out their names.

"Hi I am Dr. Simmons is there a Grissom, Brass, Sara, Warrick, and Greg here?" Dr. Simmons started waiting for everyone to nod. "if you would follow me, I have news about your friends."

Eager for news they followed the dr.

"Your friends suffered through a terrible experience today both physically and mentally. Nick has more physical injuries than Catherine does, but they both have the mental suffering to overcome. Nick's injures include; lots of bruising, lots of cuts, a concussion needing more testing to see how severe, a badly sprained ankle, he was also shot in that ankle, his wrists were bound so now they have deep cuts and rope burn on them, most of his ribs are bruised and some are cracked, and he was kicked in his already injured shoulder so I don't know if he injured it further, I'll contact his doctor for that. Catherine on the other hand only had bruising on her face and neck and cuts on her wrist. The bruising on her neck was due to strangulation. The cuts on her wrists are due to her struggling to get free from the bindings. They are in room 231 if you want to see them. I just need to talk to Grissom for a few more moments." Dr. Simmons informed. He waited for everyone but Grissom to leave then he continued. "Grissom, I am going to be honest with you, they went through, mental, physical and emotional trauma so it is going to be a long road to recovery. Nick has the physical recovery time, but Catherine is going to have guilt for not stopping Nigel until it was almost too late. Both of them are most likely going to have nightmares about what happened tonight for a while. So just keep your eye on them and make them take it easy until they get over what happened to them today. Do you have any questions?"

"No I'm just worried about Nick and Catherine. Nick has been through so much in his life time that I don't know how much more he can take, before he cracks. On the other hand, Catherine has never suffered through trauma, at least that I know of. I just don't know how to help them."

"To help them all you need to do is be there for them when ever they need you. Listen to them when they tell you something, and reassure them when they look depressed. If you do that, they will be grateful. Now go and see them. Oh before I forget, here is the bullet that struck Nick."

Grissom headed up to room 231 and walked in. He saw Nick and Catherine in their beds with their eyes closed. Looking more closely at Nick, Grissom realized that Nick's left ankle was wrapped tightly in an ace bandage and elevated on a pillow. There was an Ice pack on Nick's ankle to reduce the swelling and numb the pain. Nick was covered in cuts and bruises. His wrists were bandaged and so were his ribs. Grissom turned away from Nick and looked at Catherine. Grissom noticed the handprint around her neck and sighed. He knew that they almost lost two key CSI's tonight. He went over to the others and sat down. After a while he saw Catherine toss and turn.

-------Catherine's dream-------

Catherine looked around and realized she was back with Nigel. Only this time it was different. Nigel had the gun pointed at Nick's head and Nick didn't have time to defend himself. Nigel killed him. Catherine screamed and lunged at Nigel kicking him furiously.

"You stupid little killer, how could you kill him he never did anything to you. He never did anything wrong. Why did you kill him?"

"Oh honey, I did it for you. It is your fault that he is dead. It is your fault that I am hear murdering someone and it is your fault that your about to die." Nigel stated advancing on her and grabbing her by the neck.

Catherine screamed and kicked with all of her might but that only made Nigel angrier.

-------end of dream-----------

'This is just a nightmare, he isn't really dead, Nigel is.' Catherine kept repeating that thought in her head and felt some one shaking her shoulder. She woke up gasping for air and sweating all over. She looked up and realized that Grissom shook her shoulder to wake her up. She smiled gratefully and started to calm down. 'That was one bad nightmare. It is all my fault, why didn't I do anything to help him.'

"Sorry" Catherine whispered.

"Catherine you have nothing to be sorry for." Grissom exclaimed while the others nodded.

"But I couldn't protect Nick."

"Catherine you also needed protection, your wrists were bound together. There was nothing else you could have done. Heck, you even were able to call Brass with out Nigel noticing. You did more to help Nick, then I would have thought possible."

"But…"

"No buts, Catherine. Just try to calm down right now."

Once Catherine calmed down, Grissom went back to his seat. A few minutes later, Nick woke up. He looked around the room disoriented. He saw Grissom leave the room. He turned his head and noticed that Catherine was laying on the next bed over. He felt really guilty that she had to be there and got hurt in the process. He knew that Nigel only came after him and that Catherine was just a innocent victim. He knew that Catherine would blame him for what happened. He heard that door open and saw Grissom come back. This time however, Grissom was not alone, there were two doctors following him. Once of the doctors Nick recognized as Dr. Carson, he did not recognize the other one. The doctors made their way to his bed. They told the others to leave so that they could examine Nick and Catherine.

"Hi Nick, this is Dr. Simmons. He treated your injuries last night and needs to run a few tests to see how badly some of them are injured. So just do what he says and it will be over before you know it." Dr Carson explained.

Dr Simmons started testing Nick to see how bad his concussion was. Once he was finished examining Nick's head, he was relieved that Nick only had a minor concussion. Moving on to Nick's ankle he stopped to explain to Nick what he needed to do.

"Nick I am going to move your ankle around. All I need you to do is tell me when it hurts and how much it hurts ok."

He started moving Nick's ankle around and stopped when ever he saw Nick wince or grimace in pain. After that was completed he told Nick to slowly stand up and see how much weight he could put on his ankle with out it being too painful. Nick followed Dr. Simmons instructions and put has much weight on is ankle as he could. It was really painful, but Nick being used to pain, ignored it. Dr. Simmons realized that Nick was in pain and ordered him to lie back down. He un wrapped Nick's ankle and changed the blood stained bandaged underneath. Then he left to find a brace with more support. A few moments later he came back and sat down next to Nick. He gently lifted Nick's ankle on to his knee and slipped the brace on tightening it as tight as possible. After that was finished he gently placed Nick's ankle back down on to the pillow. Done with Nick, he moved on to Catherine.

Dr. Carson then moved over to Nick and examined his shoulder. He was relieved to find that it was no more injured then it was before. He then left the room to tell the others that they were allowed to come back in.

Dr. Simmons was finishing his examination of Catherine. He looked at her neck and noticed that it was luckily not damaged, it was just badly bruised. He wanted her to stay here for a day or two just in case she develops asthma. Once he was finished examining her, he told the others what he found.

"Nick's concussion was very mild and should only last two to three days. His ankle is badly sprained so I put it in a more supportive brace. There is a bandaged under the brace that needs to be changed at least twice a day because it is covering his gun shot wound. His shoulder luckily was no worse than it was before this incident. Catherine's neck will be badly bruised for a while and it will be tender to the touch. If here voice is hoarse, tell her to whisper because we don't want her to damage her voice box. I want to have them spend at least two more days here so that I can make sure they are recovering fine. After that they can go back to work. Just make sure they take it easy." Dr. Simmons informed. After he saw everyone nod, he left. Dr. Carson stayed.

"Nick should be out of the sling in the next few days. He just has to continue his exercises to strengthen his shoulder. It could still be painful at times but the muscle had healed as much as it is going to. The pain he experiences now will be with him for the rest of his life, so once he is ready he can use his arm again." Dr. Carson informed. Once he saw everyone else nod, he left.

The others looked at Nick and Catherine and pulled the chairs up so they could sit by their beds. Sara sat right next to Nick and held his hand. Nick smiled at her.

Two days later, Dr. Simmons came back in and examined Nick and Catherine. He cleared them and sent them back home. Sara, Grissom, and Warrick came in to the room and waited for Catherine and Nick to get ready to leave. Catherine was ready first and walked over to them. Nick started to limp over slowly. Sara saw Nick and quickly went to help him. She wrapped her arm around his back and let him lean on her. Slowly they made their way over to the others and headed to the lab.


	6. The Guilt

Chapter 6: the guilt

Once they got back to the lab, they entered the break room. Nick headed to the couch and laid down so that he could rest his ankle. Sara carefully lifted his ankle and sat down so he could rest his ankle on her lap. He smiled at her and relaxed.

"Ok so today we are going to investigate a mass murder in the desert. 5 kids were found dead, wearing nothing but rags. They were all shot three times like our previous M.O for Dawson. I want you all to head over to the scene and collect as much evidence as you can. Use the R.V today because it has a portable lab in the back and you might need the extra equipment. Nick and Catherine I want to talk to you guys for a moment." Grissom informed. He waited for everyone else to leave and then he turned to Nick and Catherine. "I want you two to take it easy today. If you need to take a break at any time during the day, just head over to the RV. Just promise me this, be honest with everyone and tell them when you get tired or sore, ok?" Grissom ordered looking at them, he continued when he saw them nod. "Ok you can go now. Just be careful."

Catherine got up and started to leave. She turned back and saw Nick limping and wincing in pain when ever he stepped on his bad ankle. She quickly went over to him and helped walk, letting him put some of his weight on her. Slowly, they made their way to the R.V. Once in the RV they sat down and headed towards the crime scene. Once they got there they got out of the RV and under the yellow tape. They looked around the crime scene.

There were bullet casings every where. 5 kids were lined up the oldest looking about 10 years old, the youngest 1 year old. Nick headed towards the kids and took swabs of their blood for their DNA. He looked for trace on the bodies and noticed that they all had a lot of green fibers on them. He pulled out his tweezers and picked a few samples up from each body to compare them. Nick slowly stood back up and headed towards the RV to put the evidence in the back. He needed to rest his ankle for a tiny bit, so he sat in the back of the RV. He saw the others come to the RV and put their evidence away. They went over to him, worried that he was hurt.

"Nick are you ok?" Warrick asked.

"Yea I just need to rest my ankle for a moment. I swabbed a sample of each victim's blood. I also found a lot of green fibers on each of the victim's bodies. I was going to put the blood in the DNA comparison computer to see if there are any relations between the children. What did you guy get?" Nick informed trying to get the others to stop thinking about his injury.

"Well I collected 15 bullet casings around the scene. I also checked to see if there was any trace on the casings, I found none." Warrick informed.

"I looked for footprints and found 7 different pairs. I made an impression mold of each pair, matching 5 to the kids. Either we have 2 shooters, or we could have another victim. I need to scan the tread into the computer and do a search to find the size and make of the shoe." Sara informed.

"I looked for trace on the bodies, and found skin under the oldest kid's fingernails. I am going to scan it into the computer for DNA comparison." Greg informed.

"I looked for tire treads and saw our trucks and one other tread. I got an impression of it and I am going to scan it into the computer for comparison." Catherine informed.

They all started to scan their information into the computers and wait for the searches to be complete. Nick and Warrick used the microscopes to gain more information on their findings. After a while they looked at the computers again and noticed that they had a match. The blood samples were all related so the kids were siblings. The Green fiber was from a cotton blanket. The casings were all 22 calibers and the gun was registered to Frank Dawson. The unknown footprint was a boy's size 5 Nike sneaker. The skin under the nails of the oldest kid was Frank Dawson's. The tire tread came back to a Lexus SUV. Once that was finished, Sara called Grissom to tell him the news.

"Grissom"

"Hey it's Sara, we're finished with the crime scene for now. We scanned our evidence into the computers. We found that there were 7 people at the scene, 6 kids and the killer. One kid is not at the scene, so he still could be alive, either kidnapped or escaped. We only have an impression of kid's footprint. We have tire treads leading in and out of the desert. We made an impression of it and scanned it into the computer. The car is a Lexus SUV, can you call Brass and have him start a search for it?"

"Yea Sara, I'll tell Brass. Are Nick and Catherine holding up?" Grissom replied.

"Yea, we're all resting in the van right now."

"Ok but if they start to show pain or tiredness, make them lie down and give them medicine."

"Yes father I will."

"Just do it, please Sara. I want you guys to come back to the lab." Grissom replied. He then hung up.

Sara put her phone back in her pocket and went over to the others. She told them what he said and they sat in the seats to head back to the lab. She looked at Nick and saw that he had stretched his leg out and had his eyes closed. She saw him wince in pain and felt bad. 'Why does everything have to happen to him? He deserves such a better life than the one he has.' Sara went over to where Nick was and carefully lifted his ankle on top of her knee so it was elevated. Nick smiled at her and started to relax again. Every once in a while he winced in pain. Sara knew he needed to take his medicine and ice his ankle. She waved Greg over.

"Hey Greg come here."

"What do you need Sara?" Greg asked heading over to Sara.

"It's Nick, his ankle is bothering him. Do you know if we have any ice and or pain killers?"

"I'll go check." Greg replied. He went to go look for ice and painkillers and then once he found them he came back. "Here Sara, I'll tell Warrick to be extra careful not to make the van jerk back and forth. Nick, we will be back to the lab soon and you can rest all you want." Greg continued. He slowly walked up to Warrick and told him to take it easy.

Sara gave Nick the pain killers and carefully took his brace off so she could ice his ankle. Nick gratefully took the painkillers and winced when she moved his ankle to take off the brace. He smiled when he felt her put the ice on his ankle. Sara carefully held the ice in place so it wouldn't move. They stayed that way until they finally reached lab. Sara carefully lifted his ankle so she could get up. She then helped him get up, picking up the ice pack when it slipped off his ankle. She made sure she had his brace with her, and grabbed him around his waist so she could help support him. Warrick came over to them and grabbed Nick's other side so Nick didn't have to put weight on his ankle. They slowly made their way into the lab. Once in the lab, they headed towards the break room and had Nick lay down on the couch. Nick sat up and put a pillow under his ankle. Then he took the ice pack that Sara was handing him and put that on his ankle also. Greg went to go get Grissom and after a few minutes he came back. Grissom quickly went into the break room and over to Nick.

Catherine saw Nick and couldn't help but feel guilty about what happened to Nick. 'I should have been able to stop Nigel from shooting at Nick. Nick shouldn't be this hurt. He just got over being shot in the shoulder and now he has a badly sprained ankle. It is all my fault. I should have stopped Nigel. It should be me that got so injured, not Nick. He didn't do anything wrong.'

Grissom looked at Catherine and knew that she was blaming herself for what happened to Nick. He knew that he had to say something to her so he waved her over. Once she came over he told her to follow him into the hall. He stopped and turned towards her and told her what he thought.

"Catherine, this is in NO way YOUR FAULT. Please believe that. YOU ARE NOT TO BLAME! Nigel Crane did this, not you. He can no longer hurt you and Nick. You guys are now safe from him for ever." Grissom informed. He saw that she had doubt in her eyes and forced her to look at him. "Catherine, I mean it. IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT. Nick would have died if you didn't call Brass when you did. Heck both of you would have died. I need you to understand that. I need you to be able to tell when it is your fault and when it isn't. If you don't believe me, believe Nick. He would never blame you."

"Then why do I feel so guilty?"

"I don't know, Catherine. You and Nick went through a terrible ordeal, and you are recovering from it. Just talk to Nick, tell him and he will tell you what he thinks." Grissom informed.

Catherine nodded and walked over to Nick. She paused for a moment before lightly tapping him on the shoulder. Once she got his attention, she looked at the others and noticed that they were leaving and standing in front of the doors and windows so no one would be able to get in or see. She was grateful to them for that. She looked back at Nick and sighed.

"Nick, can I tell you something?"

"Yea, of course you can. What is it?"

"Nick…it's just that…I can't stand seeing you like this. I feel so guilty about when Nigel was shooting you. I should have been able to help you. I should have stopped it. But now you are more injured than you were before, and it's all my fault." Catherine confessed. She looked down unable to look at Nick. She knew that Nick was going to blame her for it all and she couldn't look at him and see the anger in his eyes.

"Catherine, how could you believe such a stupid thing? You trust me right?"

"Yea"

"Do you think that I am always honest with you?"

"Yea"

"Then believe me when I say, I DO NOT BLAME YOU FOR THIS. IT WAS NOT YOUR FAULT. If you have to blame someone, blame Nigel, not yourself."

"But Nick…"

"No buts listen to what I said, please Catherine."

"I'll try"


End file.
